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An overlooked gem for a forgotten demographic

While its current incarnations have been slowly jumping the shark, the old Digimon seasons remain an example of how shows for children should be made, it was never terribly vulgar, the parents where figures that offered support to their children, not just obstacles to their fun, and it handled a few of the harder issues a child might face without actually getting too depressing or dark. Yes, the show was meant to sell toys and cards, but so did many historical American shows like transformers (nostalgia kinda blinds most of us with this one), but not all of those shows where given a heart. Also, the battles where only a small portion of each episode, and the character relationships where the obvious focus. This meant that the show treated violence as an evil act generally, rather than a form of fun, and allowed for strong moral lessons through the characters, ranging in subject matter from self confidence and bravery, to being caring about others and putting parental issues in perspective, while never being too blunt or preachy. Also, two final notes, the last star off is due to the elements of decline in later seasons, and the shoestring budget. Also, i would like to address one of the reasons i think the series did so well. A limited run. This allowed a definite start and end, meaning that characters where allowed to grow freely, rather than being expected to continue into another season. While this may not allow children the continuity of other shows, it gives the show more freedom to present a good plot, which should always be the priority.

Amazing, if you can keep track of the whole and avoid Frontier and Data Squad

The first 3 seasons are amazing, after that it's as 'bout as good as Pokemon. The third season (Tamers) is where it gets violent. With one of trash-can-dump things leaving the digital world with the kids. I see you've complained about its lack of continuity, but it has a lot more than episodic shows like say Pokemon, or Spongebob. Digimon just is rebooted every season except for season 2, which on from season 1 with a whole new set of Digidestined. Season 3 takes place in a universe where the first 2 seasons were a popular TV show. You need to watch earlier episodes or it doesn't make sense because there is a very strong continuity so have to see it in order.
Well season 2 lets the Digidestined travel between worlds all the time (because the gate between the worlds is in one of the computers in the computer lab). Season 3 (Tamers from now on) because it is set in another universe, has tamers instead, hence the title Tamers.
Of all the continuitys (I don't know the plural for that word) there are only 3 people who fight for fun, everyone else fights for survival, hence it has much better morals then Pokemon. I will now tell you the 3 people who fight for fun; Ken (A.K.A. The Digimon Emperor) from season 2 , but he thought it was just a video game, so he's kinda excused, then we have have Rika (A.K.A. The Digimon Queen) from Tamers, who knew that it was real, but thought digimon have to fight, and here is the third and final of this list, Renamon (Rika's partner in Tamers) maybe fought for more than for fun, she did say that a soda that Takuto gave her was first gift.
I should probably put the names of the main heros in each of the 3 first seasons; the first 8 Digidestined: Tai, Matt, Joe, T.K., Sora, Mimi, and Kari, now for the 4 new Digidestined (Kari, and T.K. stayed Digidestined) Yoilei, Cody, Davis, and Ken, ( yeah they forgave him, they give good messages like that), now for the 4 Tamers, from Tamers, Takuto, Henry, Rika and Ryo. Season 1 has the kids stuck the Digiworld, I already told you about 2, but Tamers is kinda weird in that the digimon are on earth for most of it, but they can't travel between worlds.
There are 5 seasons in all, 4 is called Frontier, and 5 is Data Squad, but I ignore them because make no sense with the games that go with them, thus the product placement part, something, that I normally wouldn't mind, but not only is there notable product placement but you to import them from Japan because they make no sense without them and got released out of Japan. If I was going to count those anymore then I did just now, I would take some stars away, and stick educational on because to understand it, you'd need to learn Japanese.
Tamers seems to have tacked on a follow your dreams thing, even without taking the original Japanese theme song into account. After all, Takuto created Guilmon with his drawing, and the first 2 seasons had the Crests, Tags, and Eggs, used to digivolve the partner digimon using virtues taken from the Digidestined, like Hope, Kindness, Love, Curiosity, and Courage.
Tamers has some of the kids protecting their digimon from a secret branch of the Japanese Government: ENIAC.
Here random info you might want to have before letting little kids watch it;
Some of the scenes are pretty intense, though the average 7year-old should be able to handle it. Like the Bug-house episode, or anytime SkullWarGreymon or the D-Reaper shows up.
But some things are just plain scary, like the J-Reaper agent, or Piedmon turning just about everyone into keychains.
But there is a lot of cute too! Just about anything with Calumon is cute sweet and fluffy. Or when Guilmon eats bread.
This show can funny too! If a scene has Davis and it's not a fight scene it'll probably be funny, or when Guilmon and Calumon made a bunch lines on the soccer field.
So I guess this show has a good balance of all good things a show needs, but the last episodes always bring up tears. The end of Season 1 ends with the Digidestined leaving their partners, if you season 2 you know that they meet up again but they don't know that. At the end of season 2 the Digidestined and the digimon stay together, but a man that always wanted to see the Digiworld dies just before he get in, and the end of Tamers makes everyone cry, seeing Kokomon, Gummimon, Gigimon, and Viximon all have to go the digital world because as baby-level digimon they aren't strong to enough to stay on Earth, and Guilmon had never been a baby-level digimon before, and Earth was only home he ever had, Degenerating into Gigimon and then leaving Takuto forever would really hard for him.
People are saying this is a knockoff of Pokemon, but no it's attempt to sell Tamogotchi to boys.
By they way, Pokemon can't go backwards, and there aren't any mouse digimon, last time I checked.
Between the games, the mangas, the movies, the audio dramas, and the anime, there's at least 24 different canons. And the v-pet backstories. Games are mostly one-offs. If you keep track of the canon (one per season, game, manga series, and half line of v-pets, (some of the movies and audio dramas are in the same canon as some of the anime), except for seasons 1 and 2 of a the anime) It has great story line.

Good for all

Well, I like Digimon more than I'll ever like Pokemon. Pokemon can get too over whelming with the spiritual/demon stuff going on but Digimon is just digital. Normally, the only anime I'll ever watch is Avatar the last airbender but I love this show too.

Bad animation.

Japanese Version ages 13+, English Version 7+

I am going to review the Japanese Version of Digimon first, The Music was terrific, escpecially butterfly, the theme song.The plot was very good too and the characters are really likeable,especially Taichi Yagami. The english version was ok but there are translation issues escpecially in the part where Tai introduces the characters and later forgets T.K(Takeru)'s name. The reason why I recomend the Japanese version for anyone 13 or older because there is a bath scene and there is some romance between Taichi and Sora. Overall, I recomend this for anyone who is not a pokemon fan.

It is not a ripoff. Digimon came first.

Alright. I am reviewing this because im tired of people saying that Digimon is a ripoff of pokemon. Digimon came out 3 years before pokemon in japan. it was only released in america after pokemon. stop calling it a ripoff!

Digimon, Digital Monsters! Digimon are the champions!

Woww, where do I even begin? I want to try and make this short, but I can't guarantee anything. Well for starters, Digimon is one of the best anime I have ever seen in my life. I grew up with it and have re-watched it multiple times over the years. Every time I watch Digimon, I remember just how amazing a series it is. This anime series has a lot of positive messages, and the characters learn a lot while in the "Digital World". In a world where human children befriend cute, adorable digital monsters, Digimon teaches the importance of teamwork and friendship, as well as believing in yourself and never giving up. Digimon is not your typical anime, it is full of surprises and awesome adventures! There is quite a lot of fighting and violence, but it's all for a good cause. I'm pretty sure a ten year old would be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. The human characters learn a lot from their digital partners, and they each form a special bond with their Digimon. Loyalty, friendship, love, teamwork, courage, optimism, leadership and especially hope. Digimon is truly an amazing series that I feel will teach any young child, 10 and up very important life lessons that they will carry for the rest of their life. They don't make shows like they used to, so having your child watch Digimon would be the greatest gift you could ever give them.

Review of Digimon Adventure

Background: While at first glance it is easy to categorize this show as a rip off of Pokemon. However, if the shows are watched in whole and compared the two shows do not have much in common other than the idea of human and monster partners. First off the Pokemon franchise was designed as a whole. The video games, card games, and TV show were all planned out together. Digimon was a show created for the purpose of selling virtual pets that could be fed food and used to battle people. The writers, given this mandate and a low budget, created a show that was intended to only be 13 episodes long. However, it was very successful that a full 54 episode season was created. With that said, it's time for the review.
Review: The review will consist of a plot synopsis, a review of the plot, and a review of the content so families know what to expect to see.
Plot: The story begins with 7 children at summer camp. While at camp, bizarre weather occurs all over the world. For the children, this means a blizzard that hits their camp site. The children witness an aurora in the sky and 7 devices fall from it. After each child gets their device they are transported into what is known as the Digital World. The Digital World is inhabited by several small and large monsters called Digimon which have the ability to evolve to more powerful forms. Each child realizes that they have a partner Digimon which they slowly but surely become attached to. The kids soon realize that the particular island they have landed on is ruled by an evil Digimon, Devimon. The children decide that in order to go home they must save the Digital World from Devimon.
Review of the Plot: I don't want to spoil too much as the plot does expand from here. The show is broken up into 4 story arcs each featuring a new villain or in the final arc, a team of villains. In order to defeat their enemies, the children have to show special characteristics which unlock the powers of evolution in their Digimon partners. Some of these moments are fleshed out well while others are forced in order to move the story along. From a story perspective, the peak of the show comes during its 3rd arc. Here the battle switches from the Digital World to the Real World. Because of this, the children eventually have to reveal their Digimon partners to their parents. This leads to the strongest parts of the show. While in some children shows, parents are seen as either inept and stupid, overbearing , or nonexistent (there are some exceptions e.g. Rugrats and Rocket Power), Digimon uses the episodes where the fight is in the Real World to show each child's relationship with their parents. Issues of divorce, adoption, responsibility, and living up to expectations are all fully tackled. If there is a part of the show that can be appreciated by both parents and children, it would be this arc. However, the show is not without it's flaws. The villains are rather two-dimensional in that they don't really have any reason to be evil other than they are just evil. There are two important exceptions but they are henchmen, not primary villains. Also the English dub has a lot of bad puns, especially in the beginning. This does improve as the show progresses though. Finally, the budget for this show was low so the animation is not all that great. Music in the Japanese version is much better than in the English dub. My personal favorite is the piano version of the song Butterfly which is just touching and beautiful. Overall, the show does have plot holes and subpar animation. However, what it lacks in budget it makes up for in the heart that was put into the show. Considering what the show was intended to be made for, the writers created a heart-filled character centered show with plenty of monster battles to appease the action fans of the show. I give the show 3.5/5.
Review of Content
I know some parents care about the content of the show so I will point out some things they should keep an eye out for. The violence is very fantasy based with monsters shooting energy balls and beams at each other. While there is rarely any blood drawn from the attacks, some of the attacks result in Digimon getting incinerated or cut into pieces. When Digimon die in this show, being that they are comprised of data, they dissipate into the air. Their data is sent to a place called Primary Village which is where Digimon are born (they hatch from eggs). The data from the dead Digimon is reformed into an egg after which the Digimon re-hatches with or without their memories intact. As for the humans, a parent does slap her child and there is a fist fight between two of the characters. While the children are constantly threatened, they never take any damage from a Digimon in the show. There is also a scene of self-mutilation by one of the Digimon which was cut out of the English dub.
There is very little sex-related content. The only thing close is the children are shown in a hot tub but the boys are separated from the girls and all the characters are covered. Some of the female Digimon show clevage and there is a Digimon fight between two female Digimon that causes the male characters to be in shock and awe. There are some fart jokes which are edited out of the English version too. There aren't any drug references but there are some alcohol references and the father of one of the children smokes. The alcohol reference was edited in the English version but the smoking was not. There is some language in the Japanese version but not in the dub.
Conclusion
I hope this review helps to understand this show. The show has a direct sequel called Digimon 02 which takes place 3 years after the events of this show. There was also a movie which consists of three different stories. Neither has anything to do with each other and are actually three separate Japanese films which were combined for American audiences. The sequel also has its own movie which doesn't add anything to the story but is a sequel to the second of the films shown in the Digimon movie. After the second season, the story was concluded. Every season after was a reboot where the rules of the Digital World were redefined and new concepts were used. I would recommend the third season, Digimon Tamers although it is more violent and adult themed than its predecessors. I would also recommend to any fan to watch JesuOtaku's Digimon retrospective where she goes in depth into the first three seasons. Honestly a lot of this review is inspired by her videos. I would also recommend WhatTheEgad's Digimon 02 retrospective which critiques the second season. Viewing these retrospectives should give the fans and the parents and idea of what the show is actually about.

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